A Story of Chestnuts and Mocha
by cabbage-for-the-people
Summary: AU, OOC. Li Syaoran is the very definition of 'perfect' in his high school. That is, until someone decided to become even more 'perfect' than him. Can you handle the competition? Rewritten.
1. The Beginning

**A Story of Chestnuts and Mocha**

The Beginning

* * *

What is perfection?

He looked at the mirror, smiling at his reflection. The grin was not too happy, not strained at all; just very relaxed. It was perfect.

How is perfection attained?  
He proceeded to straighten the necktie of his school uniform as he inserted his feet into his leather shoes. He would have to practice hard on his laps later, he thought to himself. He wasn't able to break his usual record the week before and that was unacceptable. He would also have to study strictly until ten in the evening, the right time to sleep without having to risk any unsightly blemishes in the morning.

Why is perfection wanted?

He stepped into the school campus from the family's limousine, swinging his bag over his shoulder as he did so. A girl approached him, letter in hand. It would be another confession, but he delighted in the sweet, sweet words of praise that emitted from his new admirer's lips. He also found pleasure in rejecting them, as their bottom lip would quiver and his reputation of desirability would rise once more.

When is perfection at its limit?

'Never', he thought to himself as he entered the auditorium. Today would be the day they announced the person with the highest GPA. It had to be him. No exceptions.

He was so sure his name would be called.

But things wouldn't turn out the way he wanted them.

He waited for his name to be called, anticipating as the principal of the Seijou High held his breath and let go of it, uttering a name he would despise for a lifetime in his mind.

The name was very far from his.

"Sakura Kinomoto of class two, section one, please come up on stage!"

The announcement echoed throughout the amphitheater. Hushed whispers buzzed throughout the room. He felt like his heart was being chopped off into a million pieces. Of course, the thought that whoever that girl was would definitely be ugly comforted him for a while.

…And was he ever wrong.

A resounding gasp could be heard as the person mentioned stood up from her seat.

She was gorgeous. The rumors were true, to his dismay.

She had hair that was like silk spun out of gold and bronze that cascaded smoothly above her chest, skin lightly kissed by the sun, brilliant emerald eyes, a smile that genuinely showed an innocence that could spark a thousand men into battle just to protect it, and a small build that still spoke volumes of her being a girl about to break the wall between youth and womanhood.

He narrowed his eyes at the sight.

He let down his guard this time. A silent vow was muttered under his breath as he exited the auditorium.

She was now his competition when it came to the game of perfection.

And he was determined not to lose.

* * *

**A/N: **There you have it, the rewritten prologue to this story. I hope you have enjoyed it, and please do review and tell me your thoughts :)


	2. What Mops See Nowadays

**A Story of Chestnuts and Mocha**

* * *

-What Mops See Nowadays-

* * *

Sakura Kinomoto was many things. She was pretty, intelligent, hardworking, and athletic. One of the things she was not, however, was punctual.

She raced through the road leading to her high school as cherry blossoms seemed to grace her presence with their petals. Today would be another one of those days, she would think to herself. She had morning duty that week and so she had to wake an hour earlier, but since this is Sakura we are talking about, fifteen minutes would go by before she would rouse from her sleep upon realizing that her alarm clock wasn't lying to ring its announcement that it was time for her to wake up.

"Morning duty's the pits!" she hissed to herself as she rounded a corner. "Huh?" just when she was about to reach the area leading to the sophomores' classrooms, a figure caught her attention. "Someone's up and early…" She cautiously tiptoed her way towards the shadow of the student, wondering why on earth he or she would be in campus so early.

She thought she had seen a sleeping angel.

A boy with thick lashes that delicately whispered shadows on the lower area of his eyes lay there. His bushy eyebrows framed his face as they slightly furrowed in his slumber while copious amounts of sepia tendrils sticking out in different directions adorned his head and a delicate touch of rosiness blessed his skin. He rested his back against a tree as his right leg was bent before him while his other one stretched out leisurely in a rather ungraceful position. A thick book was placed clumsily on his chest.

She wondered if it was possible to fall in love with strangers. As she was about to leave, her gaze still stuck on the lad, his eyes opened.

And that's when she understood that love at the first instant of sight could be possible.

She had never seen anyone else with the same color of irises before. They were the color of newly ignited flames and molten lava. They were fire.

He looked at her rather questioningly, as if he was trying to figure out where he had seen her before. A look of intensity could be sensed as an expression of realization dawned upon his features.

Oh, he knew who she was. He watched as she hesitantly jogged towards the second years' rooms after staring at him. He would always go to school earlier than the rest of the students, afraid that his favorite spot by the window in the third row would be taken from him. That day should have been the same but seeing that it was the first week of classes, his classmates would be different and so new surprises would be in store.

* * *

She would be, predictably, in the same class as he was in. They were of the honor roll after all. But what he didn't expect was that she would win in popularity as well. He observed the rest of the class as they surrounded the girl of his nightmares, the adulation once reserved for him now shared with her.

Sakura listened as her colleagues talked to her, asking different questions all at the same time that it almost seemed like they were speaking in one voice. She would have given them her full attention were it not for the awareness that _he_ was seated at her right, behind her.

He was so handsome. Even in the school she had attended to before, nobody could come close to how good-looking he is. Of course, that opinion was biased but she was quickly becoming one of his ardent admirers. Her older brother had warned her that pretty boys were always bad news because you could never tell if they were really women or not, but Syaoran was different. He was most certainly a man. He had the aura of an almost-bad boy. She wouldn't have had figured out that his intensity was only due to the fact that he disliked her, but let's make her believe her assumptions in the meantime.

"What to do…" he thought out loud as he enumerated the possibilities of overpowering the girl seated at his left, right in front of him. He paid no attention to the usual crowd of fans he had for that day. He didn't like sharing, and especially not to someone who was close to his credentials as she was. He worked so hard to get to where he is now, and she would have to pay for being such a _sightly_ hindrance to his claim to high school fame and worship.

Li Syaoran was many things. He was charming, smart, diligent, and sporty. One of the things he was not, however, was…

"That can't be right." He frowned to himself. He was, in his mind, not just many things. He was _all_ things. He was that great and wonderful and magnificent and etcetera, etcetera.

He was also that egotistical.

* * *

It would remain that way for a month: her liking him and him disliking her. Council meetings were awesome for her and unbearable for him. School days were a daydream to her and a horrendous dream to him. Dismissals were sad for her and bliss for him.

What Li Syaoran wouldn't have anticipated was the scene in which he was in right now. He blinked a few times to see if the sight before him was real.

He had gotten a note during English class that someone had wanted to meet him on the rooftop during lunch time. He never expected it to be that person. And yet he was really looking forward to turning down yet another one who would have a crush on him. Looks like today wouldn't be one of those days.

He never expected it to be Takashi Yamazaki.

Takashi, due to his slanted eyes, was, in Syaoran's vision, looking at him with earnest love. What he didn't know was that the taller guy was actually staring at him, equally befuddled.

"What the heck are ya doing here?" Just when Syaoran was about to open his mouth to say something, that question was spat out by the yakuza fan who is Takashi. The yakuza were badass for the said fellow, and he habitually yakked in a strange inflection that he thought was similar to gang talk.

"…E-excuse me?" Wasn't the Chinese lad supposed to be the one asking what he was doing there?

"This is my territory; ya ain't s'pposed ta be here, punk!" he punched his right palm as he attempted to threaten the most athletic lad in the grounds.

"Oh! Sorry, Takashi… I was the one who asked him to come here…" A high voice made the two men look at the source in unison. "I didn't know this is where you would be hanging out during lunch hours… sorry…"

"M-Miss Kinomoto…!" the Yakuza fan appeared flustered as he bowed and quickly changed his disposition… as well as his accent. "Sorry about that, as well! I… didn't mean that this was my territory! You can use the rooftop any time you want…!" he paused before squeaking out a 'bye' and leaving the two behind. Unbeknownst to Syaoran, Sakura had beaten Takashi in an arm wrestling game over the last copy of a Shoujo manga before and he was mighty scared of her.

"That Takashi…" she sighed before pouting at the direction that the guy left at.

"Sakura?" Li Syaoran began, relieved that a member of the opposite sex would be confessing to him. Then again, he wasn't sure if the girl before him would be confessing. That would be even stranger, he thought as he recounted the times men have admitted their attraction to him. "Four times…" he silently said to himself. That was quite a lot.

"Oh… um… here…" she shyly handed out a neatly folded note.

Could it be?

Syaoran gawked at his female companion. It was undoubtedly a confession of some sort.

Was it real?

He looked at the piece of paper then at Sakura, then back at the message written again.

It couldn't be!

…Right?

There was only one way to find out.

As he took the letter from her thin fingers, a sudden gust of wind could be felt. "It's especially windy… today…" he looked at the spot where Sakura was just an instant prior.

Realization dawned upon him as he came to his senses.

His competition was already running away from him.

…Literally.

"Sakura! Hey!" he sprinted after her. "Come back!"

"NOOOOOOO!" she was speeding away so fast now, her eyes squeezed shut with the humiliation of the thought of what might happen once he read what she had written during English class.

"Sakura!" for once, jogging every morning for his baseball training came in handy. He was almost nearing her as they wove their way through the already-empty corridors of the school, as everyone else was in the cafeteria or outside the campus. "Sakura!" although it was uncharacteristic of him to race after someone while yelling, the situation left him no choice.

"GO AWAY!" as she was about to round another corner, luck proved to make fun of her in an ungainly fashion.

She fell down the stairs.

All five steps, so it was just a minor fall, if you're worried.

Nonetheless, she fell.

…Because there was a mop on the floor, much to her dismay.

She really shouldn't run with her eyes closed next time.

Syaoran skidded to a stop upon seeing Sakura landing on her rear end. He was panting quickly now. No wonder she was named the fastest runner in the school's track-and-field team. "Sakura…? Are you alright?"

His breathing slowed down a bit. "Here, let me help you." A large hand presented itself before her as he knelt down.

For a while, she just stared at his fingers. Then to his shoulders. Then to his face. And finally, back to his black leather shoes. She shook her head. The back of her eyes stung, partly because of the impact of her fall but mostly because of the embarrassing circumstance she led her pathetic self into. She blinked rapidly to stop the tears from falling.

Syaoran wanted to laugh at her. But he was anxious that someone might see him, and he wouldn't dare tarnish his flawless reputation of being a compassionate kind of individual. This was probably the first time she had confessed her attraction towards anybody, given the fact that she ran away from him like that.

She was trembling now. He knew it wasn't from the cold.

Without further hesitation, he pulled her up by placing both hands on her arms. It didn't take much effort to help her stand. Not surprisingly, she was as light as a feather. "Are you okay, Sakura?" he inquired again. It was a dumb thing to ask. She was shaking now, her mocha-colored hair covering her face as her head bent down low. She really didn't want to talk to him at the moment.

Sakura hardly understood what her admirers felt like when they confessed their desirability towards her. She once confessed her like towards somebody, but that was long ago. She even started to forget what this sort of humiliation felt. Until now, that is. She desperately didn't want him to toss her feelings out the window, the way she was forced to do so with her admirers. It was utterly mortifying that she ran away afterwards, afraid of being rejected.

"I'm sorry…"

He was startled by the sudden statement from the girl.

"I really… I really shouldn't… have… I really shouldn't have… done that." It took all of the courage in her to look straight at him. "I really shouldn't have put you on the spot a while ago." She bowed. "I'm sorry!"

He let go of her arms. Her legs almost buckled from the sudden loss of support.

She was still blinking hard to stop the tears that were threatening to fall anytime soon. "But I still _would _like to know what you… you know. What you would like to say… what your reply is."

This wasn't the first time that he would deny a girl's affections, right? He should be used to it by now.

But the way her eyes looked at him pleadingly made it seem so difficult at that instant.

Still, that doesn't mean that his vain nature wouldn't register what she had just confessed to him. While he stopped his conceited self from making his head even larger before, now was different.

She liked him.

His rival_ actually _liked him.

This was going to be interesting.

"Sakura…" he started as he felt his head get bigger and bigger, almost enough so that it would break his neck… well, you get that that's an exaggeration.

She held her breath.

"I think that it's too early to… conclude anything."

Her shoulders hunched in degrading defeat.

"But."

She looked up again. "But…?"

"I would really like to get to know you more..." He flashed a smile at her.

Her eyes widened with shock. It wasn't a direct 'yes,' but a small amount of hope was still there. "Thank you!" her trademark smile was plastered on her face. A rush of sudden relief mingled with joy consumed her entire being. She couldn't hug him because of her overwhelming glee, so she just shook his right hand fervently.

He had granted her something so many women could only _dream _of.

Li Syaoran, their high school's most eligible student, had actually given her a chance to show him how much she liked him.

"…Shall we, then? I'll walk you to class. It's getting late." he offered his left arm to her. She nodded, the strands of her hair bouncing along with the movement.

The mop that caused her to trip over a while ago would bear witness to this event.

* * *

**A/N: **Some of you who have read this story before may have noticed a lot of tweaks here and there, and that's the plan. Expect more deviations from the original from hereon out. Please leave comments or suggestions by reviewing. Or you can just review. Say what you want to say by reviewing... bottom-line is, please review :) Happy reading for now!


	3. Innocent Seduction

**A Story of Chestnuts and Mocha**

* * *

-Innocent Seduction-

* * *

He could feel it fast approaching.

His glorious comeback, that is.

While it was completely irrational of him to once think that no one —absolutely no one—could surpass his competencies before, she had proved him wrong. By 'she', he would mean no other than Sakura Kinomoto.

He grumbled as he witnessed another member of the male population confess to said girl from a few steps away. Li Syaoran was cleverly hidden behind a post. Although he would try to convince anyone and everyone later on that he wasn't stalking her, merely gathering information on her, he would fool no one.

A lot of men find her attractive, he would conclude from further research as he would continue to follow her during break times. He didn't think she comprehended her effect on the opposite sex even at the moment.

He watched sideways, pretending to read a book, as she stopped in her tracks. She scrunched her face as her shoulders rose while inhaling. She then let out a loud, un-ladylike sneeze, her arms flailing with happiness at the release afterwards.

"That hit the spot!" she howled out loud in glee as she slapped her right knee. "Man, I was worried I wouldn't get that out my system!" he would find out later on she liked talking… no scratch that, she liked _grunting_ to herself, like an old man whose body ached all over.

"Whoopsie-daisie, here we go, time to throw the pansie!" he looked at the most popular girl in school, bewildered. She was very much different from the rumors, it seems. And it also appeared as if she liked nonsensical old man talk too. He shook his head before returning his attention to the girl, who appeared to stiffen as she looked from left to right. Seeing that there was nobody around, she carefully, slowly, cautiously brought her rear end up in the air.

You wouldn't want to know what happens next if you have problems with losing your appetite. But if you're not eating anything at the moment, do read on.

She let out a short, yet loud toot from her bum before skipping to wherever she was heading to.

Li Syaoran could only stare at the spot she was last seen at, his face wrinkled in disgust.

This couldn't possibly be true, right?

...Right?!

She wasn't charmingly feminine at all, he thought in horror! Oh, the revolting dreadfulness of it all!

… Well, let's let our male protagonist digest that for a while.

* * *

"I know how you can eliminate fifty percent of the calories in that Popsicle of yours, Tomoyo!"

Daidouji looked at her wide-eyed friend curiously. "…How?"

Sakura knew that Eriol and Tomoyo had been having trust issues recently and it was the raven-haired lass's goal to look prettier than ever to "win" him back. It was hard to imagine that he would cheat on his girlfriend, but PMS (not the premarital kind but the premenstrual type, mind you) can do a lot of things with the female brain.

Sakura grabbed her Popsicle then bit off half of it.

"Hey!"

Sakura let out a hearty laugh as she licked off the aftertaste of the orange-flavored dessert.

Tomoyo pouted at her friend's childishness. "You know, _that_ is precisely the reason why Syaoran wouldn't return your feelings, Sakura." Sakura stopped sniggering with cunning joy, a serious look quickly shown on her face at the statement. "What do you mean?"

"Well, think about it: he's quite known for his maturity. He doesn't laugh out loud like you do, doesn't gobble everything in sight that's edible like you do, doesn't talk like an old geezer like you do, doesn't say strange things that…"

"Alright, already!" She gulped down the last few drops of her juice before sighing in resignation. "Really, now. I know. I know that I should try my best to make him like me and all. It isn't _that_ easy."

It had been almost three weeks since her confession to him and she still hasn't done any form of action to make him like her. She always thought that everything else will fall into place once she said her feelings to him.

"Well, it's not like you've done anything to impress him." The statement startled the class vice-president. It was like her companion had read her mind. That was precisely one of the reasons why Tomoyo was her best friend.

"How did you know?"

The dark-haired female started to wonder how the person in front of her had the highest grade point average in the whole batch. "It's pretty obvious."

Sakura slumped back in her chair. "What am I gonna do now?"

* * *

Li Syaoran had to stop himself from letting out a fit of giggles again for the fifth time that afternoon. _This is glorious!_

Different instances in his mind played out, but all of them finished with Sakura Kinomoto admitting her undying affection towards him. He had decided to erase what he witnessed that day, concentrating on ruining his rival instead once and for all.

He was finally going to be number one again.

Even if the girl beat him just that one time, he wouldn't dare let his guard down again. He thought of ways for her to stop having high grades.

_Maybe I could…no. _He rested his chin on his right hand's palm. _Hmm…_

… '**I love you Kenji, I would die for you!'**

The sudden loud tearful voices that he knew all too well startled him for a while.

"Hey, hag of a sister! Will you please turn off the television set? I'm trying to think here."

A girl in her early-twenties frowned then shook her head with disapproval. "No way. This is the season finale. I've been waiting for this in so long already!" her features mirrored those of her younger brother's so she was undeniably beautiful.

He sighed. "You just watched that yesterday."

"Shush!"

'**Karen… I'm sorry…'**

He didn't bother to continue watching. A resounding slam could be heard as he rammed the door close. _Women… who could ever understand them?_

He stopped before climbing up the stairs towards his room. _Wait… _he didn't know how or why, but what he thought to be as an ingenious idea popped in his head. _If women are so affected with love… aha! _He smirked. _I'll just have to make her think that I've reciprocated her feelings… she'd be too distracted with those dumb romantic thoughts of hers to even concentrate on studying! _Despite himself, he pumped his fists in the air with enthusiastic delight, his face a mask of comical joviality.

"… What are you doing?"

He swiveled around, only to find his older sister staring at him oddly.

"Umm…"

He had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

The High School was preparing for the annual club festivities, which would be held next week. Li Syaoran walked promptly towards the next club booth. Even so, the grace of his movements couldn't be diminished by his fast pace. _I wonder where Sakura is…_

"Syaoran!"

He smiled. "Sakura." _Look who's here. _He glanced upward for a while, thanking whichever deity that was present silently.

She attempted to catch her breath after running towards him. "Good afternoon."

A nod was his only reply.

"So… umm…" she shuffled her feet together, grunting incoherently. "Schlorpa-doodle-dee…"

"Sakura… is something wrong?"

Upon realizing that she was playing with her feet again and talking like an old fart, she straightened up. "Oh! Umm… sorry about that." She flashed a large, sheepish grin. "It's sort of a tendency…"

There was an awkward pause of silence as Syaoran recounted what he had seen a few days before, trying very hard not to show any signs of disdain on his handsome features. _Have…to…distract… self…_

His eyebrows shot up.

If this scene were a manga, a flash bulb would probably be drawn on top of the fetching class president's head.

"That's alright, Kinomoto-san. In fact, I find it quite endearing." Showering women with praise could always trigger stronger affections, right?

She blushed a deep shade of pink. "Th…Thanks…"

SCORE! One for Team Li!

His smile widened. "Shall we?" he gestured towards the door. Sakura nodded fervently. She knew for a fact that he didn't give out compliments like that to just anyone. She felt bashful at the thought that… well, that he acknowledged something about her.

They walked into the classroom.

* * *

It's not often when she found herself completely speechless around someone. She likes talking.

So much, in fact, that she had joined debate clubs, forensics guilds, and even the silent kind of talking like sign language and miming could be added to her repertoire!

….But now…

She really didn't know what to say to him. Weren't first dates supposed to be awkward yet romantic in a sense? So how come 'awkward' is all she is feeling right now?

…Fine. So organizing the annual school club festival would _hardly_ be considered a date, but she had never been to an outing of romantic intentions before so she really wouldn't know what would be considered a 'date'.

Ah, how she wished she could just snuggle up in bed at home instead and dream about being with Syaoran instead of _actually_ being with him. In her reveries, she always knew what to say and how to impress him, her old man talk a thing of the past. _Pringled herbal duck horse…_

"Sakura…"

"…hickory stick… I mean, w-what? What is it?" she snapped out of her daydream, an ungainly drool about to form at the side of her mouth.

Before he could attempt to flick her forehead for not listening to his almightiness, he held on to his wrist shakily to stop himself from doing so. Instead, he did what any lad who knew how fine-looking he is would. He ran his hand through his carefully tousled almost-messy hair, making the strands stick out in even more random directions. _Get ready for it in three… two…_ he calmly turned to face the girl, ready to dazzle her with his come-hither looks.

"Here."

That is, until she had the _audacity_ to hand him a comb from her purse.

He looked at the item, dumbfounded. "Uh…"

"You're welcome," she flashed him a toothy grin as she put it into his free hand (his left one was still in mid-air from shock).

Shouldn't she be recording his every move and replay them over and over in her mind like any other girl would?! The nerve of the geezer-lady to do that to his greatness/awesomeness!

He forced his mouth shut as he gingerly brushed through his locks. With a controlled tone, he did his best to steer their present circumstance toward the correct, Syaoran-approved direction. "Sakura, what we were talking about before…"

She should have known he would bring that up. She wasn't prepared for it. "Umm… what about it?"

Sometimes, she amazed herself with the way she could appear so calm when in fact: she was practically undergoing a nuclear war's equal of cusses and roars of pained protest within her mind at that instant.

He looked at her with a bit of… what's that? Surprise? Anger? …Irritation? She couldn't tell.

He then uses his palms as support for his weight as he jumps up to sit on the teacher's table.

She wondered how he could appear so attractive even with the simplest forms of action.

"Want to give it a shot?"

This Li Syaoran guy really hasn't got a clue. Yes! She desires you with every fiber of her being! You need not ask her if she wants to 'give it a shot'! Just say the word and without further hesitation, she shall come to you!

…Well, maybe except during Sundays. They have cheerleading practice.

Oh, and Tuesdays, too! Debate Team meetings are held then.

Whoops! Where was she again?

Oh, yes: her reply.

"Umm… okay." She probably appeared quite timid to him now. Hah. If he only knew the reality of it all…

He grins at her answer. This time, he got the reaction he was hoping for. She would have turned into a huge pile of mush if it were physically possible.

"Good. Saturday morning, then, Sakura?" It's strange that he was the one asking her out when she was the one who is supposed to be winning him over.

Oh, what the heck. "Saturday would be great!"

He pushes himself off the table before heading out the door. She loved the way he walks, with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his school slacks.

"I have to go now. I'll call you later then." He winks at her, only to realize that she was stuck in the same position. Her eyes looked glazed over as he could only imagine the romantic novel-like scenarios running through her mind. _Women… _He then left her to her imagination as he ambled away, new plot in mind.

* * *

**A/N: **What are your thoughts? :) Please don't forget to review!


	4. Jealousy?

**A Story of Chestnuts and Mocha**

* * *

-Jealousy?-

* * *

A dark, deep voice echoed throughout the room as long fingers with sun-kissed skin ran through the keys of the piano effortlessly.

"I am a werewolf…" there was feigned anguished as the person sang with fervor, "My fur silky under the moonlight…" a series of runs through the keyboard were played before the voice continued singing with a whisper, "… I am nothing but a monster," and then a louder tune of plea followed that line, "…A MONSTER!"

"Are you still working on your werewolf musical?" Sakura asked with an incredulous look on her face. She knew her brother wrote songs for odd musicals, but his latest one about the anguish of a werewolf being a…well, _werewolf,_ was downright ridiculous. The fact that he always sang with such sincerity added to the weirdness of the situation. "I really need to get some sleep, you know. I have to get up early tomorrow."

Now, Touya Kinomoto took his line of work very seriously. And the fact that his latest job had his sister annoyed to no end and could possibly break her date with some brat fueled his passion. "No can do. This one is dedicated to you, by the way. It's aptly titled 'Monster with Brown Hair and Large Feet'." He was only partly joking.

She glared at her older brother before muttering a "You're one to talk", deciding that there was no sense in asking her brother to shut the heck up when he was in the middle of gyrating with his so-called musical muses. Perhaps she should just sleep with earplugs on tonight.

Touya shrugged his shoulders as he placed his fingers on the piano keys again, taking a deep breath before exhaling rather dramatically, "Feet that stomp so loud… I am nothing… nothing but…" he let out a tortured sigh, "a werewolf…" He didn't stop even when he heard his sister slam her bedroom door shut.

"Moon-cracker-burp-breath!" she muttered to herself as she grabbed a rubber band to tie her bangs up in such a way that it looked like a horn made out of hair that stuck out in different directions. "Hupsy, daisy!" she hoisted her body onto her futon, stretching her arms out languidly as she landed with a thud on it.

She looked so different from when she was in school.

Aside from her unicorn horn of hair, she resorted to wearing the most unflattering tracksuit from her old school—food and various other stains still defiling the horrid attire, putting on rose-tinted eyeglasses that her older brother had given her back in elementary school as some sort of joke on being too optimistic, and walking around in knee-high socks where she tucked in the lower half of her tracksuit in. Nobody would have recognized her, especially with the stupid expression she always had on at home, so that she could 'relax' her facial muscles as much as possible. She only ended up looking like she drank too much cough medicine.

"Yoshaaaaahhhh!" she sighed out contentedly as she lay on her side. She was so happy. She got to see Syaoran tomorrow, oh wonderful day!

…Ah, yes, oh wonderful day.

…Right.

…Well, we can only hope for the best for her, after all.

* * *

Sakura Kinomoto stirred in her sleep, wondering why it was so peaceful in the morning that day.

And then she remembered.

"…LOTUS BUTT!" she got up by swinging her legs in the air then pulling herself up by arching her back first. She was stuck mid-position as the only thing that could support her weight were her arms, which were on her sides. She gave up trying to get up that way, so she just rolled out of bed. "Stupid Touya… didn't wake me up…" she frantically looked at the clock. It read eleven in the morning. She was late! As soon as she took off her earplugs, the loud buzzing of the doorbell made her full of anger. "Touya…!"

She clenched her fists as she raced down the stairs (more on jumped the whole flight of stairs). As she got to the door, her older brother still pressing the doorbell with newfound passion, she prepared her battle stance. She seemed to chant an odd incantation as she kicked the door open. "AMERICAN NINJA RAM!" She wasn't American, and she wasn't a ninja. She most certainly _did_ ram the door open, though. Her yellowed red tracksuit gave her enough flexibility to do so.

…But it wasn't her brother on the other side of the door.

She watched—mid-air—(she was about to land) as Li Syaoran stood there, looking like the life had been sucked out of him as his hand shook with horror at what he saw. "D-d-d-d-d-door b-b-bell…" he managed to croak out. 'Why is there an old lady in a tracksuit jumping out to meet me?' He would think to himself at the first split-second before he would realize that the hag was none other than Sakura Kinomoto. He had mistaken her for a rather lively elderly woman because of the fact that her glasses occupied three-fourths of her face.

She landed on her feet with a tremendously dismayed expression on her features as her jaw dropped to the floor in slow motion, both students just staring at each other for a good few minutes.

He cleared his throat before he opened his mouth then closed it again, attempting to say something.

And then he ran away.

It was her turn to chase him.

"SYAORAN! WAIT!" There were a string of ancient-talk expletives after she screamed those two words out, but the author would like to refrain from writing them.

"NOOOO!"

This scene is about to look familiar.

"SYAORAAAAAN!" And then she sped up, a superpower-like force goading her into nearing him. She got closer and closer until…

"What the hell!"

"I'M SORRYYYYyyy…!" her voice faded as she ran past who she was chasing, her ponytailed bangs bobbing up and down with each step she took.

…Or not-so-familiar after all.

* * *

She could have given him fifty reasons—fifty _good _ones—to stay. In the end, those reasons wouldn't be convincing enough for him to do so, she knew this.

She smacked her forehead with both palms as she bowed down from the waist up in defeat. "Stupid!" And then she slapped her forehead over and over again, never minding if she would be even more idiotic in the process "STUPID!"

The next day would prove to be a different one for Sakura as she sulked at home, watching as much mind-numbingly predictable romantic movies. When she got bored of that, she reached for the next DVD she could get her hands on, which was her brother and father's porn stash.

They shared the randy disks with each other.

…The Kinomotos were very strange, okay?

Soon enough, she watched the vulgar videos so much, enough so that she could mime the words to the lines of the badly plotted films.

'I'm going in' she mouthed the guy's part. 'With pleasure' she mouthed the girl/kitten's response.

As she was about to continue doing so, she heard the doorbell ring again.

She let the chips she was eating sloppily fall to the floor as she dragged her feet to the door.

"Kinomoto residence… may I help you?" there was a look of impending doom about her, which made the person she was talking to shiver in fright.

"D-d-delivery f-from L-L-L-Li…"

She looked up as she instantly felt a wave of enthusiasm. "Thank you, child…!" The man was older then she is, but she liked geezer talk, so there. Leave her alone.

She opened the package with a flurry. She was surprised to see roses and a note that said "Missing you. Shall we see each other at Penguin Park this afternoon at three?" She smiled as she let out a guffaw (more of a donkey-like sound) and tried to act demure by tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. This was short-lived, however, as she began to dance like a crazy old miner who found a chunk of fool's gold. She swung her bent arms from side to side as she bent her knees and floundered, flailed, and flogged about.

It looks like Syaoran's moves were still going as planned.

* * *

They were apparently going to meet at Penguin Park.

So how did he manage to end up at the other side of town?

"ARGHHHH…!"

Li Syaoran would be considered a lot of things, but there was one fact of life that so few people knew about him.

"Another ticket to Aoyama Center, please…"

He had the worst sense of direction.

"What do you mean by 'Penguin Park is a two-hour ride away'?!" it was a rare sight to see him lose his temper in public. What could have gone so wrong? Penguin Park was only one train ride away from his house!

_Stupid driver had to be used by mother at that stupid charity event for that stupid Hiiragizawa Foundation… _He was fuming now. He had never been late for an appointment in his entire life.

…And he had no intention of starting to become tardy at that moment, mind you.

It was twenty-two minutes past three. They were supposed to meet at a much earlier time, but given the fact that he had to take another train ride to get to the park, that would take another hour at the least. _I guess I have no choice, then._

Four rings were heard before his supposed date picked up the phone.

"Hello, Syaoran?" she sounded breathless. He started to feel guilty on what he was about to do.

"Kinomoto-san, I…" he stopped. Was that… a guy's voice in the background?

"Syaoran? Wait."

Rustles could be heard at the other end of the line.

He wasn't quite sure, but he thought he heard her say something along the lines of 'Shut up' and 'Hey!' He strained his hearing to make out her sentences.

"…OI! Yamazaki, ya big bozo! I can't hear him." Rustling again, before: "I'm sorry. Syaoran, what was that again?"

He paused for a while to clarify if it was a delusion of some sort.

Giggling could be heard. "Takashi! I can't hear him! Hello? Syaoran?"

His eyes darkened. There was no doubt about it.

His date was with another boy.

Syaoran was stunned. This… this… _clumsy person_ actually had the GALL to meet up with some other dude just because he was late? He couldn't believe that he had the heart to call her to postpone and apologize! As much as he wanted to shriek at Sakura, he didn't want passersby to think that he was crazy.

He sighed.

"Sakura, I'll be late. Wait for me, okay?" he flicked his cellular phone off. _This… is disheartening._ The doors of the electronic train slid to a close as he walked in it.

Never again.

Never again will he ask out that girl.

How dare she hook up with some random guy just because he's late by a few minutes? He could bet his life that that Takashi can't even come close to his superiority by a mile!

But then again, he really shouldn't jump into conclusions. She's probably doing it on purpose, letting him hear the guy's voice. Maybe it's some sort of revenge for his being delayed.

It's ten past four in the afternoon already.

He had never been this _late _in his entire life! He should sue that ticket lady.

…And his mother, if he could.

* * *

Takashi Yamazaki winced in pain. He had discovered Sakura in the swings, and she was delighted with this at first, but who knew that yakuza fanatics could be so…

"Another round!"

…Stubborn?

"Yamazaki! We already went through _five _rounds! Don't you think that that's enough?"

"I wasn't ready!"

"Get out of here before I kick yer butt!"

The two exchanged glares that could let anyone else cower as their foreheads grinded on one another's. "Let's see if ya can even try, ya punk!" A smirk found its way on the yakuza fanatic's lips. "Loser doesn't get to go on her date!" He was supposed to have a date with a lower classman, but he decided he would beat Sakura first once and for all.

"What do you mean by 'her'? Are you implying that I won't win again?!"

"Not juz implying! I'm sayin'!"

"You're gonna regret that, punk! Hot diggity clocking!" she muttered to herself as she rolled up her cardigan's sleeves.

* * *

She won in the end, his arm unresponsive by the end of that round.

…Still, Li Syaoran had not come yet.

She let out a sigh of defeat. She couldn't believe that she actually _thought_ that he would come.

She should have known this would happen. _He's probably making fun of me while lounging around some dark alley now, smoking cigarettes and painting on walls._

Too much porn can make anything possible in someone's mind.

Sakura watched with great interest as the clouds of dust from the swing set's sand gathered in between her toes with every kick she bestowed upon it. Was she being… stood up?

She wanted to deny that, but at that point… she was tired of making up excuses for him. _I really don't understand why I'm still here when he's not even—_

"Sakura!"

_-Coming…?_

He caught up with his breath, resulting to choppy lines. "Bus… sorry… did you… long… sorry…I…" he held onto the chains juxtaposed to Sakura's swing before dropping to his knees from exhaustion.

She smiled, much to his surprise. "It's okay. I understand." A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "If Takashi hadn't dropped by before his date… I wouldn't have been able to wait longer.

For once, she didn't stutter in his presence and it was probably because of the fact that Li Syaoran wasn't as perfect as she had painted him in her mind to be. It was all the more reason for her to like him for the mystery behind that handsome mask of his.

A look of realization flooded his features. "…Takashi… his date?"

"Yes. Apparently, they were going to watch the horror marathon downtown."

The words she uttered out started to echo in his mind. _If Takashi hadn't dropped by before his date… his date…_

He laughed. It was a mirthful, almost melodious laugh. He really didn't understand why, he just did. Perhaps it was because of his stupidity regarding the thought that Sakura replaced him with another dude, which was impossible anyway. He was much too magnificent… like a... a white horse!

He was bad at analogies.

Either way, he felt relieved now.

…Very much.

When he finally managed to calm himself down, he straightened up. Sakura's skeptical look slowly faltered. And as he offered his left arm to Sakura, he asked, "…Shall we, then? I promised you a date, didn't I?"

She tried to stop herself from grinning like an idiot… but to no avail. "You owe me big time, Mister Class President."

* * *

**A/N: **Hello! I hope someone _is_ out there (ha, ha? ...well, now I scared myself like a fool). I hope some of you do review and still read this story despite its nonsensical, crude, childish, g(h)as(tl)y humor. I enjoy writing it too much to give it up simply because there are no readers, and I may as well be writing in a private diary instead of updating this if that happens *thinks about it*. It might be a good idea, yes. Until next time, then!


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